Today is something for new bloggers or those of you who have thought about blogging but aren’t sure where to start. Of course the biggest decision you make is going to be what niche you base you blog around.

Whichever niche you choose will be the backbone of your entire blogging business!

Each niche brings in a unique audience that will affect your branding, design, products, and overall business model, so it’s not enough to start your blog on a whim. It’s super important to take some time and choose your niche not only based on what you love, but also what you think will bring you the most success.

are the basic questions to ask when trying to gather information and figure out any problem. If you’re asking yourself how to choose a blogging niche, why wouldn’t the same questions apply?

I’ve taken the 5W’s and tailored them specifically for blogging to help newb bloggers choose their ideal niche. They can be summed up as the “4 P’s“.

The who, what, why and how of blogging are more specially known by these 4 categories: Passion, Purpose, Popularity, and Profitability.

Passion is the what: the actual subject matter and content you love to write. It’s what will keep your blog filled with interesting stuff!

Purpose is the “why factor” that will fuel your determination. It is the reason you want to get up everyday and create awesome content for your audience!

Popularity is the who you need for your blog to be successful. Without an audience, all the passion and purpose in the world can still fall totally flat!

Profitability is the how. And just as how fits in the 5 W’s, it doesn’t always need to be there. Profitability is a choice you make to turn your passion into a business.

By the way, this 4P formula is only for bloggers who want to make a their blogs into a business. I’m not saying the average blogger who loves writing and doesn’t care if anyone reads their content needs to focus on profitability! If you’re happy blogging for hobby then that’s awesome- more power to ya!

This strategy of picking your niche carefully only comes into play if you’re looking to either:

a. grow a huge blog + audience and make an impact, or b. monetize your blog

Let’s look at how the 4 P’s fit together to help you choose your perfect blogging niche!

Passion (what)

We’ll start with passion since it’s the number ONE thing all bloggers need to have before delving into blogging! Passion is the undercurrent running through your entire blogging business, and without it, your blog will eventually die a slow, painful death!

Passion is the fire you need to keep pushing ahead. Passion does a lot of key things for your business including:

-helps motivate you when things become slow,-makes your brand more believable,-shows authenticity to your readers, and-pushes you to learn, grow and move ahead

Purpose (why)

Purpose is the second huge component in building a blog for the long-term. It’s very similar to passion but instead of blogging for you, purpose shifts focus onto your audience. What is the “why” factor behind taking all this information you’re passionate about and creating a blog? Who can you help with your knowledge and what would someone gain from reading your content?

Popularity (who)

Once you’ve established your passion and the purpose behind creating your blog, you have the foundation in place to start growing your business. Now you have to start thinking about your audience. Who is going to be interested in reading your blog? Is there already a large audience for your niche or will you be trudging a new path?

It’s very difficult to grow a blog without having other people who share your interest. You could be incredibly passionate and have amazing ideas about how to help people, but if no one even needs your help, your passion and purpose won’t matter. After finding out what you love, you have to know if other people share your passion as well!

Profitability (how)

So you have a niche you’re crazy passionate about, an audience that shares your passion and a reason behind building your blog. Profitability is the last piece to the puzzle and it should slip into place if the other 3 exist.

Profitability is the how behind making your blog into a business. It is the way you will deliver your passion and purpose to your audience and the way you will be able to make a profit off your passion without feeling skeezy.

If you’re genuinely passionate and have figured out a way to solve a problem your audience needs, you are offering them an incredible gift!

Now that we know the 4 P’s we need when choosing a niche, I’ll take you through the process I learned from my own blogging experience as an example.

Prior to this blog, I had 2 unsuccessful blogs: one about motivation & healthy lifestyle and the other about creating financial success through small real estate investments. Looking back and remembering the 4 P’s, I can see what I was missing that lead to the failure of my blogs:

I had (and still have) loads of passion about these subjects and I saw ways I could develop products or sell existing products to help people, but I was lacking either a clear purpose or the audience I needed to succeed.

Of course you can start growing a blog without all 4 P’s in place, but down the line you may find yourself unmotivated, lost, unsure, and wanting to give up on your business entirely!

If I would have sat down and analyzed my blogs and blogging strategies using this method sooner, I probably could have saved myself a little heartache (and some MAJOR time!).

There it is! The 4 P’s you need to remember when choosing your blogging niche. With all of these in place, there’s no reason your blog can’t become a massive success and the business you’ve dreamed it can be!

Having trouble choosing the best blogging niche? Or maybe you have more advice on how to start a blog? Let me know! 🙂